Squirrel Carvers Disappoint

I have to admit to some disappointment in the carving the squirrels did on our pumpkin this year. Didn't really show much effort on their part, compared to their past work. But isn't that just so typical of those who are above all critics? Sure, it was easy enough for the squirrels to find flaws in our carvings in previous years, and make their uninvited, radical revisions, but when we gave them a clean slate and dared them to make their own creations, all they could manage is a splotch here and a nibble there.

Surely they didn't lack for training, having practiced on our squash crop all summer long. A more sympathetic interpretation might be that this is the work of an apprentice, the local gnaw master having considered a small pumpkin unworthy of its talents. Or maybe squirrels, like people, have become too rushed and harried to do a pumpkin carving justice anymore.